The first goal of OSIRIS-REx was to blast a spacecraft toward the grayish, lumpy object and get it really close to the surface so the probe could pluck up some space rock samples with a robotic arm.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. The OSIRIS-REx photo is part of the mission managers' plan ...

a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona and principal investigator of the OSIRIS-REx, mission told Space.com. "But as we were bringing back the images after the event, we were stunned." ...